Charity the big winner after Great Manchester Run

The fastest postman in Oldham, Paul Simons, became the fastest Santa in Manchester as £28m was raised for charity in the Bupa Manchester 10k on Sunday. Despite being in fancy dress, Paul, 46, was up among the top runners, racing home in 35 mins and 20 secs around the course which takes in the sights of Manchester, including Old Trafford, and finished on Deansgate.

The fastest postman in Oldham, Paul Simons, became the fastest Santa in Manchester as £28m was raised for charity in the Bupa Manchester 10k on Sunday.

Despite being in fancy dress, Paul, 46, was up among the top runners, racing home in 35 mins and 20 secs around the course which takes in the sights of Manchester, including Old Trafford, and finished on Deansgate.

And the Salford Harrier, one of 36,000 runners in the country's biggest 10k event, played his part for charity by collecting money for Bliss, for babies born prematurely.

"My three-year-old, Alfie, was born five weeks prematurely so I always raise money for Bliss when I can," said Paul. "He was in intensive care in Rochdale, so it's important to me.

"I decided to run as Santa as my son loves Father Christmas."

Another Santa was Emmerdale's Tony Audenshaw, who plays Bob Hope, who did use pillows for a bit of extra padding and carried a sack around the 6.1 mile course. He was one of the many soap stars running which also included former Coronation Street star Denise Welch and current stars Craig Gazey (Graeme Procter), Vikki Binns (Molly Dobbs) and Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby), as well as comedian Paddy McGuinness.

"I was the world's fastest baby at the London Marathon but I couldn't make it as the world's fastest Santa," said Tony, who finished in 52 minutes and was raising money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. "I love this race, it's like coming home for me but I did lose my wig and my sack a number of times!"

Comedian John Bishop didn't look out of breath at the finish. "I did it in around 45 minutes - well seven minutes outside 45 minutes!

"There was an Ethiopian who ran just a bit faster than me, though. It was brilliant - it's the second time I have done it and the crowd were superb again."

John ended up running with a gang of 10 from Manchester who have set themselves the task of 10 10km runs in 10 days.

NSPCC

Rob Cotton, Gary Harding and Tony Machin were the first of the ten in and they were hoping to fly off to Amsterdam - volcano ash permitting - straight after the race to run another 10k at 5pm. They will also take in Belgium, Switzerland and Monaco, as they look to raise around £100,000 for the NSPCC.

While there were various football shirts on show, one ex-footballer also put himself through his race pace for the first time.

Ex-Manchester United and Preston defender Colin Murdock admitted: "I have never done anything like this before. After giving up football I decided I need to keep fit and not become a beach ball, so this is my attempt at it."

The former Northern Ireland international, who is now a solicitor in Manchester, was raising money for Derian House and Embassadors for Sport, a charity which aims to get children off the streets.

And Actor Mark Lewis-Jones, from 55 degrees North, admitted: "That was tough. I did it in 43.55 which is slower than last year but the support was massive."

People of all shapes and sizes were inspired to take part in what has become Britain's Premier 10k race which was first staged in 2003 with 10,000 runners but now has grown into a massive fund- raising event.

James Largey, from Manchester, did it the hard way, dressed as a chef wearing Union Jack underpants under his outfit and tossing a pancake all the way round.

He was raising money for British Heart Foundation.

"My sister, Dawn, was in a lot of trouble and needed a blood transfusion when she was giving birth to my niece, Emmei, so I wanted to do something connected with blood and the heart. I managed to flick the pancake most of the way round, although I dropped it a few times as you can tell by the state of it!"

Young fundraiser Kirsty Howard, who started the Greater Manchester Run in 2004, was pushed around the course by a team with `Running for Kirsty' T-shirts as the 14-year-old, born with her heart back to front, continues to raise money for Francis House.

And five Manchester friends of Rachel Cropper - known as "Team Cropper" - also pushed her in a wheelchair around the six miles as they looked to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease, from which she suffers.

They have raised around £30,000 during the year from events such as the Great North Run, a charity bike ride and yesterday's 10k.

It was a day to remember for many despite the cold weather with most crossing the finishing line outside the Hilton Hotel with sheer agony etched on their faces - until they saw the cameras and then they managed a wave.